Field of the Invention
This invention relates to inflators. More particularly, this invention relates to inflation valves for compressed gas cylinders used for inflating inflatable articles such as life rafts and personal safety vests.
Description of the Background Art
Presently there exist many types of inflation valves designed to be used in conjunction with compressed gas cylinders or the like. In their simplest forms, inflation valves include a knob or handle which is turned to open a cylinder of compressed gas to inflate the inflatable article. However, even more prevalent are inflation valves for sealed gas cylinders having a sealed, frangible seal. Inflation valves of this type are operable by means of a jerk handle and lanyard cord that allow the inflatable article to be quickly inflated by a simple jerking of the handle which then forces a pierce pin to fracture the frangible seal of the gas cylinder, thereby allowing the compressed gas therein to flow out of the gas cylinder to inflate the inflatable article.
Due to the large force necessary to fracture the frangible seal of a conventional gas cylinder, particularly for raft inflators that require inflation from a large gas cartridge, more contemporary designs of inflation valves employ a powerful firing spring which is held in its cocked position by means of a sear. Upon jerking of the jerk handle by the user, the sear is released allowing the powerful spring to very forcibly force the pierce pin through the frangible seal of the gas cylinder.
To eliminate the need for inflators having powerful firing springs held in cocked positions, still more contemporary inflation valves utilize the internal pressure of the gas cylinder to assist in driving the pierce pin fully through the frangible seal. A representative inflation system with such a pneumatic assist feature, is disclosed in my U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,089,403 and 7,178,547, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein.
Jerk handle inflators and pneumatic assisted inflators are in widespread use in the inflator industry. However, there presently exists a need for inflators that more easily allow actuation by an inflation lanyard.
Therefore, an object of this invention to provide an improvement which overcomes the aforementioned inadequacies of the prior art devices and provides an improvement which is a significant contribution to the advancement of the inflator art.
Another object of this invention is to provide an inflator that is capable of use with compressed gas cartridges to open the frangible seal of the inflator and achieve a high flow rate.
Another object of this invention is to provide an inflator that employs a power primer which, upon firing, drives a firing pin through a frangible seal to allow gas from a gas cartridge to escape therefrom an inflate an inflatable article.
Another object of this invention is to provide an inflator that employs a power primer which, upon firing, drives a large-bore firing pin through the frangible seal of the gas cartridge to cut a larger-than-normal hole therethrough to allow gas from the gas cartridge to escape therefrom at a higher than normal rate to thereby rapidly inflate an inflatable article.
The foregoing has outlined some of the pertinent objects of the invention. These objects should be construed to be merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the intended invention. Many other beneficial results can be attained by applying the disclosed invention in a different manner or modifying the invention within the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the summary of the invention and the detailed description of the preferred embodiment in addition to the scope of the invention defined by the claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.